Trolling is a type of fishing where one or more fishing lines are baited and drawn through the water by a boat or ship.
While trolling in the Great Lakes, the oceans, or other bodies of water, it is often necessary to carry a lure or the bait to a specific depth to catch different types of fish. One way to carry the lure or bait to a particular depth is by using of a fishing diver. The fishing diver may be attached to a fishing line and may lower to a particular depth as the boat or ship moves through the water. Once the diver reaches the desired depth, it is pulled behind the boat while the attached lure or bait is presented to attract the fish.
Divers may be configured for diving to different depths or for trolling various regions in the water depending on the shape of the diver and the length and type of the fishing line used with the diver.
Some divers have a rounded or circular shape that allows the diver to cover wide areas in the water to either side of the boat. These types of divers, however, are not ideal for deep diving and the rounded shape creates extra drag resistance when moving through the water, in particular, when retrieving a hooked fish.
Some divers, such at the JET DIVER™ manufactured by Luhr Jensen have a thin and elongate design and can lower through the water to a desired depth while the boat is moving. Once a fish is hooked, however, fishermen will want to retrieve the fishing line and to pull the diver as well as the hooked fish to the surface. This task may be difficult to accomplish with the JET DIVER™ and other known divers. Although divers, such as the JET DIVER™, are designed to lower through the water with minimal drag resistance, they are not designed to be retrieved and raised through the water with the same efficiency once a fish has been hooked. While being raised, the body of the diver is not oriented relative to the surface for moving through the water with minimal drag resistance. Instead, the water pushes against the body of the diver and provides considerable resistance, therefore making it difficult to pull the diver toward the surface.
Some divers have release mechanisms used for retrieving the diver and the hooked fish. These known divers, however, are insufficient for deep diving and being maintained at the desired depth. Additionally, known divers having release mechanisms are not shaped to allow retrieval with minimal drag resistance. In other words, even if the release mechanism is actuated, it may still be difficult to raise the diver toward the surface of the water since it does not have a narrow and streamlined design for raising through the water with minimal drag resistance.
Accordingly, improvements in diver devices are still being sought.